INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS, 9TH

EDITION
Thomas J. Sullivan

Chapter 1

The Study of Social Problems

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 What is a Social Problem?

• C. Wright Mills distinguished between

personal troubles and public issues
– Public issues
• have an impact on large numbers of people and
are matters of public debate
– Personal troubles
• are things that affect individuals and their
immediate surroundings

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 What is a Social Problem?

• Personal Troubles, Public Issues, and

Social Problems
– A social problem exists:
• when an influential group defines a social condition
as threatening its values
• when a condition affects a large number of people
• and when the condition can be remedied by
collective action

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 What is a Social Problem?

• The Social Context of Social Problems

– Social conditions that can lead to the
emergence of social problems
• Deviation from group values & norms
• A decline in the effectiveness of social institutions
• Extensive social & cultural diversity
• The exercise of power

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 What is a Social Problem?

• The Sociological Imagination

– C. Wright Mills (1959) coined the term
sociological imagination
• The ability to understand the relationship between
what is happening in people’s personal lives and
the social forces that surround them

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 Theoretical Perspectives on Social
Problems
• A theoretical perspective provides some
fundamental assumptions about the nature
and operation of society.
– Macrosociological perspectives focus on large
groups, social institutions and society as a
whole.
– Microsociological perspectives focus on the
intimate level of everyday interactions
between people.

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 Theoretical Perspectives on Social
Problems
• The Functionalist Perspective
– Society is a system that is made up of a
number of interrelated elements, each
performing a function that contributes to the
operation of the whole.
• Robert K. Merton distinguished between manifest
functions, latent functions, and dysfunctions.

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 Theoretical Perspectives on Social
Problems
• The Functionalist Perspective
– Society consists of different groups who
struggle with one another to attain the scarce
societal resources that are considered
valuable, be they money, power, prestige, or
the authority to impose one’s values on
society.
• Karl Marx provided the framework based on the
class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the
proletariat.

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 Theoretical Perspectives on Social
Problems
• The Interactionist Perspective
– Interactionism focuses on everyday social
interaction among individuals rather than on
large scale societal structures.
• William and Dorothy Thomas stated that “If people
define situations as real, they are real in their
consequences.”
• The definition of the situation refers to people’s
perceptions and interpretations of what is
important in a situation and what actions are
appropriate.
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 Theoretical Perspectives on Social
Problems
• Using the Theoretical Perspectives
– The perspectives should be seen as three
different “tools,” each of which is useful in
analyzing particular social problems
– Not equally useful for examining every social
problem, nor can any single perspective
explain all aspects of human behavior and
society

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 Theoretical Perspectives on Social
Problems
• Constructing Social Problems: The Mass
Media and Other Influences
– From the functionalist perspective, the social
construction of social problems depends, at
least in part, on the extent of social disruption
or social disorganization produced by a social
condition

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 Theoretical Perspectives on Social
Problems
– The conflict perspective helps us recognize
that elites and others with access to
resources or power play a greater role in this
process of social definition
– The interactionist perspective recognizes the
importance of symbols and social meanings in
shaping human life
• And it points out that defining a “condition” as a
“problem” is a matter of attaching certain negative
meanings to the condition

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 Research on Social Problems

• The Scientific Method

– Science is a method of obtaining objective
and systematic knowledge through
observation.
• Hypotheses are tentative statements that can be
tested regarding relationships between two or
more factors, and that act as links between theory
and research.

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 Research on Social Problems

• Conducting Research
– Direct observation
• The social scientist sees or hears something him
or herself
– Surveys
• People are asked questions

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 Research on Social Problems

– Archival research
• Information collected by some other agency for
reasons other than research
– Experiments
• Controlled methods of collecting evidence

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 Research on Social Problems

• Values, Interest Groups, and Objectivity

– Max Weber argued that sociology should
remain as value free as possible because
human values can distort sound scientific
investigation
– Karl Marx eloquently stated a position
opposite to that of Weber’s on this
controversy
– Sociologist Alvin Gouldner suggested a
middle ground between these two positions
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 Research on Social Problems

• Assessing Data: Problems and Pitfalls

– Sampling problems
• Upon whom or what were the observations made?
• Samples should be representative.
– The three criteria to establish causality
• Observe associations or correlations
• Ensure time sequence
• Avoid spurious relationships

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 Future Prospects: Solving Social
Problems
• What Can We Do about Social Problems?
– Solutions to social problems can fall into one
of the following categories.
• Prevention
• Intervention
• Social reform
• Reconstruction
• Alleviating consequences

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 Future Prospects: Solving Social
Problems
• The Interplay of Social Policy and
Research
– Solutions to social problems never magically
appear. Some action must be taken if
solutions are to be effected. These actions
develop into what is called social policy:
• Laws, administrative procedures, and other formal
and informal social practices that are intended to
promote social changes focused on alleviating
particular social problems

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 Future Prospects: Solving Social
Problems
• Who Provides Solutions?
– “Collective action” means that people work
together toward a solution.
• A social movement is a collective, organized effort
to promote or resist social change through some
noninstitutionalized or unconventional means.

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 Future Prospects: Solving Social
Problems
• Should We Solve the Problem?
– Can we accept the costs of the solution?
– Does a solution to one problem create yet
other problems?
– Is a particular solution feasible?

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 International Perspectives

• Reasons to look at other societies and

cultures
– Because we can gain additional insight into
problems and their solutions when we
observe different cultures
– Because nations today are intertwined in a
complex relationship in which we all depend
on one another
– Because some social problems are inherently
global
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